Remembering the Confederacy: Collective Memory in the Old Dominion

• In Event: Roundtable Session 66
  In Roundtable Session: Pedagogical Approaches for Improving Instruction in History Classrooms

Abstract

This study explores pre-service teachers' understanding of the Civil War. Specifically, pre-service teachers in Virginia were asked to explain why the southern states decided to secede from the United States and create a new nation called the Confederacy. These participants were also asked to rank eight Civil War historical figures in order from "most heroic" to "least heroic" and to provide a definition of heroism. Participant responses were analyzed to discern their narrative framework for southern secession.

Authors

• Gabriel Aaron Reich, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Melanie L. Buffington, Virginia Commonwealth University

• William Robert Muth, Virginia Commonwealth University